1960's Gibson and CITES

I am in the early stages of potentially buying a guitar from a leading Independent US guitar shop. The guitar is a 1960's Gibson which contains some Brazilian rosewood. I currently live in the UK. I spoke with the guitar shop and discussed CITES to which they didn't seem particularly clued up which concerned me. When i explained my concerns with CITES they seemed to brush over it and told me that everything will be fine and they have never had any problems shipping guitars without any documentation. I then sent them a link to some articles about CITES and have had no response. They are a genuine store which seem pretty reputable but i am concerned that they are not taking CITES seriously (Is CITES a big deal here?).

I wanted to know opinions on this and also do i really need to fill out any paperwork for a guitar which was made in 1960. My fear is that it could get held up at customs and potentially destroyed and i would have lost a great guitar and my money.

I will do a bit more research my end but it sounds like i will have to abandon my search for now. I was a little disappointed that their are still some sellers out there not knowing the rules on Brazilian rosewood. I guess i thought that because the guitar is so old it would be exempt but i guess its not worth risking.

Mojoworking - Yes i had that same response from NRG. Its a shame as they have some great gear. I have heard that retailers can apply for a blanked permit that will cover their instruments but im guessing its still a lot of hassle for them. I really hope the CITES thing gets more thought out soon.

Government regulations run amok......its always the rule of unintended consequences when it comes to gov. regulations. So we want to protect a specific species of wood in a particular country, ok fine, do that. A guitar that's 50 years old doesn't matter, wood has been harvested and put to good use. Why would anyone care where it ships to.

My understanding is that if it can be proven that all the woods on the guitar are from that era, i.e. it is original 60s and there is solid documentation to back that up, then it would be ok.

Thanks jdgm - This might be why the seller said they had not had any problems shipping guitars of that era in the past. I guess my worry is that it would get held up in customs. In regards to the right documentation to back it up what would you expect this to be? Im thinking now maybe my safest bet is to look inside the EU where i don't have to worry about CITES.

Had a terrible experience with CITES, also involving the organized crime ring known as Ebay Global Shipping.

About two years ago I sold a early 60s Melody Maker to a guy in Germany. He went ahead and set delivery up thru this ebay shipping. So I sent it down to their crime headquarters in Kentucky, and their "experts" determined it could not be exported because this endangered wood scam. So they refunded the buyer but would NOT return the guitar to me. They said it would be "liquidated"... I kid you not. Buyer very dissapointed and I was mad as hell.

Other experience was I bought a brand new Rickenbacker 650 from Germany... because of CITES it took 5 weeks to get here instead of 10 days.

That's how we roll here in THE MODERN WOLD.

Price88, on 26 September 2017 - 10:28 AM, said:

HI,

I am in the early stages of potentially buying a guitar from a leading Independent US guitar shop. The guitar is a 1960's Gibson which contains some Brazilian rosewood. I currently live in the UK. I spoke with the guitar shop and discussed CITES to which they didn't seem particularly clued up which concerned me. When i explained my concerns with CITES they seemed to brush over it and told me that everything will be fine and they have never had any problems shipping guitars without any documentation. I then sent them a link to some articles about CITES and have had no response. They are a genuine store which seem pretty reputable but i am concerned that they are not taking CITES seriously (Is CITES a big deal here?).

I wanted to know opinions on this and also do i really need to fill out any paperwork for a guitar which was made in 1960. My fear is that it could get held up at customs and potentially destroyed and i would have lost a great guitar and my money.